June 2, 2002

I think I must be dreaming. I'm sitting on the terraza porch of my house, well, my señora's house, in Madrid! I'm in Spain! (note: my señora is the widow that I lived with)

It's been a really long day. Yesterday, Saturday, I took one flight from Orlando to Newark, and then another one during the night to Madrid. It was funny, everyone on the international flight thought that I didn't speak Spanish because I look American--but when I took out my García Márquez book they looked at me surprised, and then spoke to me in Spanish, especially the girl sitting on my right. On my left was a guy who also just graduated and he's going to a study abroad program in Málaga. He didn't speak Spanish well, poor thing. The girl on my right is Spanish and was returning from a year in the US. She didn't know English at all when she arrived and she's learned a lot! She couldn't wait to get back to the parties and stuff in her city, Alicante, and she really wanted to drink--she didn't like our drinking laws. Anyway, the three of us had interesting conversations about study abroad, different accents, etc.

Oh, and the movie Monsters, Inc. is really funny in Spanish. But they had to take out the pig latin part.

So I arrived in Madrid this morning at 9am (but my body thought it was 3am!) Customs and passport control went quickly--that surprised me a little--and it was weird, I remembered really well that part of the airport, but not the gate area, I guess we came to a different part of the airport before. A lady from Estudio Internacional Sampere was waiting for me when I arrived, and she brought me here. Mi señora is really nice, she has her rules but she's definitely willing to share her culture with us. I say us because two other girls from a university in Alabama are also living here. They were eating breakfast when I arrived and I was speaking in Spanish with the two women and at first they thought that I didn't speak English--when I said something to them in English after hearing that they didn't seem comfortable with Spanish, I heard two sighs of relief! Our señora was also happy, because apparently the communication between them has been difficult, but now I'm here to be the interpreter. Our señora says that I can do "public relations."

Well, the three of us went out to explore a little. We took the metro and found the school, when I have to go tomorrow at 9am. It was really exciting to walk in the streets and hear Spanish everywhere. (note: the metro is the subway)

This afternoon the other girls had to do something with their school group and I stayed at home. I met our señora's family and ate lunch with them. Then I had to take a nap--I was so tired!

Near here is a public Internet access place. We bought passes, so I can read e-mail and chat on AIM. But no one was on AIM this morning--I thought it was weird until I realized that it was 5:30 in the morning in the US!

I'm in Spain!

June 3

Now I'm sitting in a little park that's near my house at the Bilbao metro stop. I already went to Sampere, and I didn't get lost in the metro!

I feel a little like that story in Stories Teachers Tell, the one where the boy went abroad, spoke with somebody, and came back to the group saying, "It worked! I spoke to him and he understood me!" Although I knew that I wouldn't have trouble making myself understood, really being here and speaking with everybody in Spanish is another thing...it's great!

Well, this morning I went to Sampere to take a placement test. It was so easy; I think I would have done well on it five years ago. There was an oral part and one of the questions was, "What did you do this morning before coming here?" They liked my answer, that I hadn't gotten lost in the metro! I met Paloma, the director of the school, and she put me in the literature and film classes. My classes will be in the afternoon at 3:30. It's a very different schedule than in the US--my classes will end at 8. So I'll have mornings free to explore and then the afternoons for my classes.

I met a guy from Germany, and a woman from Texas. In the classroom there were a lot of people from the US, others from Europe, and I think one from Japan. You could pick out the Americans really easily--they wore jeans and spoke really loud English. I prefered to speak in Spanish with the German guy.

They explained to us some things about Madrid, and then we left. One of the teachers told me what I have to do to get a metro pass, and I went to the corner that she told me to use the photo machine to get my picture. Now I have to find a tobacco store where they sell the pass. I just went to a pharmacy and they told me where to find a tobacco store, but it's closed for the siesta--I'll go back later.

...

I don't like to admit it, but I was bored today in my classes. I was the only one in the literature class, and I'd already read most of the book. I thought we were going to read books, but in our book there are only extracts from important works--El Cid, La Celestina, Don Quijote, poems by Esponceda and Gongora, San Juan Bueno, Martir, and The House of Bernarda Alba. The teacher was surprised when she heard that I'd read so much. So we talked to Paloma, and she changed me to a theater class, that meets at 11. I hope that schedule gives me time to explore--I liked the idea of having my mornings free.

The film class seemed really easy. Today we just talked about vocabulary--I learned a few words, but I hope the class gets more interesting when we start watching movies.

Tonight I went out with Amber and Laura (the girls from my house) to walk around a little. All the people go out at that hour--we saw a lot of parents with their kids, couples wandering around together, and many older people as well. Lots of people were out walking their dogs. This city surprises me!

June 4

I'm sitting on a bench in El Retiro. What a pretty park--I'll have to return with my camera on another day. There's a big pool and neat fountains, and a walk with statues of the medieval kings of Spain. I still haven't found the part of the park that I saw 5 years ago, where we walked and where Polentzi paid so much money to the gypsy to tell him his fortune. This reminds me a lot of Central Park in New York--except there you don't enter the park through an underground passageway!

So many dogs here! I like it.

...

Again in the Retiro, this time to rest a little. Now I see why the siesta is so popular here--with the big meal in the middle of the day, you get tired afterwards!

This morning I had my theater class, and it turns out that I've also already read most of the works. The class is all students from Samford, Amber and Laura's school, and they don't know much about theater--somebody suggested Neruda when the teacher asked us to name Spanish playwrights! In the class we're going to read parts of La Celestina, Luces de bohemia, and some parts of works I haven't read, although I've read other works by those authors, like Mihura and Buero Vallejo. Susan would laugh if she was here to hear all the teachers saying that Carnegie Mellon must have an excellent Spanish program!

With the class we're also going to see a play every week. Next week we're going to see one of Lorca's plays--that'll be cool.

That's sad--on the ohter side of this part of the park there's a man pulling food out of the trash cans. I've also noticed men who ride the subway selling things and singing to earn a living.

After my class, my friends Samantha and Katy and I went to the movie that Sampere showed. The three of us were there by ourselves, and we're some of the only Americans that I've seen that do try to speak always in Spanish, and we take advantage of the movies and the extra culture classes, etc. I think we're going to explore Madrid together some.

After lunch I went to the Puerta del Sol. I didn't like it much, it was full of tourists and signs in English. I found the Royal Palace--I'd forgotten how huge it is. I'll go back, hopefully with a friend, to see the inside. (note: La Puerta del Sol is kinda like Grand Central Station in New York--three of the metro lines intersect there)

June 5

I like this taking a nap after lunch! Normally I don't like to sleep in the middle of the afternoon, but today I was so sleepy...and now I feel much better for my afternoon class.

Oh, I had a dream in Spanish in which I was using the vosotros form...I wonder if I used it correctly. I never learned that form, but of course they use it here a lot. (Note: the vosotros form is a set of verb conjugations that is only used in Spain, for the second person plural)

Today has been pretty busy. This morning I went to find the Lladro store on Calle Serrano, and seeing the street surprised me because it's the same street where we went shopping with Sra. Laurent. I didn't know 5 years ago that in another 5 years I'd be here again, speaking fluently in Spanish, and going to school a couple of blocks from here. (note: Lladro pieces are ceramic decorative pieces)

The Lladro store was impressive. There is so much detail in the pieces...there was some of Don Quijote wiht his sword and his novels of chivalry (including "Orlando Furioso" on the page), another with him with Rocinante, and another with Dulcinea. I was looking for a smaller piece, maybe a kitty to go with the dog that I bought when I was here before, and I think I found it--the cat has a little butterfly on his tail and he looks like Missy. There were also cute pieces for "My first computer" with cats and dogs "helping" little kids on the computer. They were so cute.

My theater teacher didn't know what to say when I told her that I'd already read La Celestina. It was funny.

In the afternoon we went to the Prado Museum. They only did a guided tour through the most important works of Velazquez and Goya, and I think I'll go back on another day to see the whole museum. But I loved it. Every time I see Las meninas I see something new--today it was the nun who's behind the rest of the "common people," and the dogs in the right side of the painting. We also saw Velazquez's painting of Bachus and his portraits of the kings; I remembered the portrait of the king on his horse. And then to Goya...I really didn't know that much about Goya when I came before, but after studying his works at CMU I really enjoyed seeing them up close. His paintings of the 2nd and 3rd of May, wow...and his paintings of his black period, when he lost his hearing...I didn't know that he had painted them on the walls of his room and they were later saved as paintings. The one of Saturn devouring his son is impressive.

I walked back to Sampere with a teacher who freaked when she heard that I had only arrived in Spain a few days ago. She couldn't believe it that I had learned Spanish so well at school. She and the other teachers aren't used to not having to speak slowly to Americans!

Oh, and they told me that Guernica is in the Queen Sophia Museum, cool! I thought it was still in Chicago or New York. But no, I can actually see it!

What else...it seems that in Sampere I have the reputation of being the girl that reads a lot...my film teacher made a comment about that today.

I keep forgetting to write this--near the school is a store called "The Skylight"--it reminds me of the play with the same name.

Speaking of books, today I got goosebumps in the Prado Museum in the Goya halls when I thought about Night of War in the Prado Museum.

...

Tonight I went with Katy to see The Son of the Bride. It's an Argentine movie that's about a little old woman with Alzheimer's, and her husband of 44 years wants to marry her in the church, since they didn't do the church ceremony when they were legally married. It was a really nice movie.

June 6

I think they exaggerated when they said that it doesn't rain much in Spain. It's been raining for 3 days now. Today I was in the Plaza Mayor in the afternoon and I had to come to school early because I got so wet.

It's weird, I remembered the Royal Palace as being much smaller, and the Plaza Mayor as much bigger. There are lots of turisty shops around the plaza, and I bought a few post cards. I also saw another Lladro piece that I loved--one of Don Quijote. Maybe that would be the best souvenir from Spain...it was the book I liked best at Carnegie Mellon.

In the morning I went to the Retiro with my camera to take pictures. A gypsy tried to sell me herbs, but I turned a corner to avoid her. I also went to the Puerta del Sol, and I took pictures of the bear that guards the city.

...

It's funny, our theater teacher is always asking if things are alive...if a pen falls, if a student falls asleep...it's funny. Another thing they say a lot here is "coger." It's used to mean to take the metro, to pick up a book...I've never heard that word so much. and I think it's a bad word in some countries!

Today I talked with Marisa about my dream when I used the vosotros form--she told me that I did use it correctly. She was really surprised to hear that in the US we don't use that form.

Samantha pointed out an easy way to easily distinguish Europeans: they wear red shoes. It's true, we saw a lot of red shoes in the stores that we passed. Oh, and here tennis shoes are called zapatillos. I'd never heard that before.

Above my bed, where I am writing, is the traditional Catholic cross. Marisa thinks it's weird that Americans have lots of different religions.

...

I just saw a hilarious commerical...a song by Frank Sinatra, "I've got you under my skin," to advertise the metro!

June 7

Today after theater class we went to Lope de Vega's house. It was so incredible! With little tiny beds...I knew that the people from that time were shorter but I didn't know they were that short! We saw his study with his books--they were huge! That room was exactly how I imagine Alonso Quijano's house in Don Quixote. I would have liked to pick up a book to be able to see it more closely. In the house there were only five items that actually belonged to Lope de Vega--some paintings from his study and his room where he had an altar, and a trunk. It gave me goosebumps when I walked up to the trunk and I thought about all the times that Lope must have done the same thing. His kitchen was very primitive, and on the table in the dining room there was this interesting little hard-boiled egg holder! He really was a womanizer--his room dedicated to his women is right next to his bedroom. It's ironic--there's a window connecting his bedroom to his altar room--I guess he didn't use that when the women were there! And his kids' rooms upstairs...it surprised me that the servants slept there too, in the room next to his kids, and not in a totally separate part of the house. Wow, the servants slept on top of pieces of wood and nothing more!

In class today we talked about Lope's works, Fuenteovejuna in particular. We mentioned Castigo sin venganza--it seems like our teacher doesn't know what to say to me, I've read so much! There was a moment in class today when I answered a question and I guess I was talking a little fast, but the entire room was totally silent and the teacher's jaw dropped half open, listening to me speak. It was really uncomfortable! But then the other students surprised me when we went to Lope's house, and they said it was cool that I could speak like that, and they wanted to know how long I'd studied Spanish. Everybody is surprised when I saw that Spanish was my double major in school...and I'm getting tired of hearing that I look too young to have already graduated from college!

...

This afternoon I went to buy more postcards, and stamps to send them. I looked for the store that my guidebook says sells mantillas and household stuff, but it was closed. So I went to the Corte Ingles, just to look for a book, but I ended up staying there for a while looking at books...lots of them are hard to get in the US, it was tempting to buy half the store! I found the second half of Don Quijote, in the edition that we read in class that I really liked for the footnotes, so I decided to get it. Hehe, and I read a little bit of a book about Linux; it's interesting to read about computer science stuff in Spanish.

Then my film class--we saw the first part of Abre los ojos, that I saw in English under the title Vanilla Skies. The two versions are similar, and it was interesting to understand the movie better the second time I saw it.

And then the play, Who killed the theater? I understood most of it (everybody wanted to know afterward if I had understood it, and they were really impressed when I said that I had!) The people from Samford are cool--they seem to accept and admire my Spanish, which is exactly the opposite of that really uncomfortable moment of silence this morning! The play reminded me of The Skylight, with the setting--the audience was supposedly sitting in an anthropology museum and we saw how theater was killed one day, April 23 (the same day that Cervantes and Shakespeare died), with examples from lots of famous plays. They said that it wasn't politics that killed theater, although in many cases it was, and it ended with the song "I am the theater" with a strong sense of individualism. It was interesting, although I wasn't exactly sure of the intended message.

Afterwards we went to a tapas bar in the Plaza Mayor. It was fun. I got back pretty late--like at 12:45 in the morning--que barbaridad. I didn't like taking the metro by myself that late at night. And now I need to sleep so I'm awake in Toledo tomorrow...

June 8

Today we went to Toledo. I think we went to all the places where I went before, and it hasn't changed much. When we got there we went to eat breakfast, so Sam and Katy and Josh and I went to a bar and ate a croissant (there were no churros and chocolate!) Then we went to the cathedral, wow is it big, with so much decoration. I saw the hole in the ceiling that I remember so well, that lights up a very typical Barroch sculpture, with a sun with rays of gold, and angels that come out of the sculpture. It's incredible. Oh, and there was a Gothic tower that my dad woudl have loved to have used as an example in his humanities class last semester. I took several pictures for him.

Afterward we went to the church where El Greco painted The burial of Count Orgaz. It wasn't as impressive as I remembered, but ti's still one of my favorite paintings that I've seen here in Spain. I didn't remember that El Greco painted his son, too, I just remembered that the man looking directly out at the audience is the painter himself. And in the handkerchief of the son you can see the name El Greco with the date...that's an interesting way to incorporate them into the painting.

Then we had free time. We went to a terraza to eat lunch, and it was fun. Then we explored a bit. There were lots of turisty shops, and every one of them sold the same thing: fans and postcards, embroidery and dolls, and lots of Damesquine jewelry. They say that Toledo's economy is based on Damesquine stuff and I believe it--good grief, it was everywhere! I bought some earrings and a necklack for me, and a frame for a gift, I think I'll put a picture of myself in it for either my parents or my grandparents. The lady at the store was very nice and she answered all my questions, exactly the opposite of the man in the bar for breakfast.

Then we went to the María la Blanca Synagogue. I remembered from my last visit that there is a single Star of David that remains, but what I didn't understand then and what I do understand now is the historic significance--how the Jews built the synagogue during the time of the Arabs, and because of that you see so much Arab influence. Then after the Reconquest the Jews were thrown out and the Cristians changed the synagogue into a church. I'd be interested to know how it is that a star still remains...did they just forget it? It's just that they changed all the stars except that one...it's interesting. The synagogue was a military barrack during Franco's time, and before that it was a house for prostitutes--and nuns looked after the prostitutes!

Finally we went to the San Juan de los Reyes cloister. They let me take pictures there, and I took several, especially of the mudejar art and the decoration that reflects the union of the Catholic Kings. It's impressive to see all these buildings that are from the time of Ferdinand and Isabel, although the cloister in particular was destroyed in a fire and they reconstructed it. Outside on the facade hang some chains, which simbolize the Christians that were prisioners of the Moors in Granada in 1492, who were freed with the Spanish victory.

In general Toledo is incredible for the mixture of cultures: the Moors, the Jews, and the Christians. and they are so many ancient buildings. When we were eating we saw a little boy playing with the door of a house, a door that was obviously old but the little boy didn't care that he was destroying it--there are so many more. It's an attitude that's a little strange for someone from the US who doesn't have such a history in my country.

June 9

It was a week ago that I sat down here to write just after arriving in Madrid. Today I can't decide if it feels like a day or a century ago. I've gotten pretty used to living in Madrid--it reminds me of New York, but everybody speaks Spanish. And I'm so glad I don't have to live in such a big city! I like it to visit, but just to visit.

Well, today we walked around a lot in Madrid. First we went to the Royal Palace, and we saw the thrones of the kings and the richly decorated rooms. I took pictures, and even though I couldn't use flash I think they'll turn out well. It's interesting to see the differences in art and architecture from one century to the next--the palace is very different from the cathedral that we saw yesterday.

Then we went to the Templo de Debod, an Egyptian temple that was donated to Spain after Spain helped to construct a canal or something. My dad would have loved it--you can still see the figures drawn onto the walls. I took lots of pictures for my dad. :)

We went to Sol to eat, and then we walked through the Plaza de Spain, with the statue of Don Quixote that I remember so well. It was so cool to see it again. Now that I think about it, maybe Katie would go with me to take a picture of me in front of the statue to put in the frame that I bought yesterday...

After eating, Katy and I went to to the Retiro (Sam went home to wash her clothes). There were so many people there, I think half of the city was in that park today! We walked through the park and we saw the Velazquez Palace and the Crystal Palace, that has glass walls. Inside are lots of birds and you can hear them call to each other, it was cool. We also stopped to see the show of thie guy who was playing with fire and riding a unicycle and stuff...he did a good job, it was fun.

Then we returned to Sol and went to the Plaza Mayor to get something to drink. Sitting in the Plaza Mayor just watching people was cool. We went back to my Lladro store, and my Don Quijote piece is still as cool as I remember, so I think I'm going to get it. I'll only be in Spain a few times, and it'd be a special memory of my time here and my Spanish work at college.

Tonight I did my homework. It'll be interesting to see what the teachers say of my essays...especially in theater class where I was the only one to understand the play!

June 10

Today I didn't do much. I slept a little late because I was so tired, and I only had time to check my e-mail before class. In theater class we talked about the play that we saw on Friday--and now that everyone understands it, we're going to hand in our essays tomorrow.

I came home to our señora upset because Amber and Laura's room was messy. I explained to her that their alarm clock didn't go off and they woke up late, and she told me that they should go to bed earlier. I don't know, Marisa and Toni are really nice, they always call me "linda" and treat me really well, but I don't like how they compare me to the other girls. It's hard to be an intermediary.

This afternoon I cross-stitched a little while Marisa slept her siesta. I almost finished the cross-stitch part and started the outlining. It's looking really cute, as Marisa says. She also likes to sew and she teaches me vocabulary. :)

June 11

Today I learned that traveller's checks are a headache. I walked through half of Madrid trying to find a bank, a Corte Ingles, or any place that would change them for me. When I finally found one, it was closed, grr...

I haven't done a lot today...my classes, I stayed to watch the Sampere movie, I went to the Retiro to eat lunch in the middle of my search for a check-changing place...

It was funny, in theater class Ana asked me to read a large part in the play--there was this really long speech. I don't really like reading aloud, but I read it, and apparently after class John said that I speak Spanish so well. I think it's funny that they talk about me. But it's cool that they say I'm nice, too.

What else...some girls from Samford asked if I wanted to go with them this afternoon to the teleferico, but I couldn't because of my film class. After class Sam and I went exploring together, we went to Sol to walk around and ended up in Atocha, next to the Reina Sofia. It was fun, and she's really nice.

Tonight I did my homework--I promised myself that if I finished it quickly I could go cross-stitch with Marisa before going to sleep. So I finished quickly--and that was good, because it was boring!

Palmona talked to me today to find out how I'm doing...she's always so busy but she's so nice to the students...I see why Susan likes Sampere.

June 12

Today we went to the bullfighting museum in the bullfighting ring at Ventas. It's such a huge ring! They said it's the second most important ring in the world. In the museum we saw the bullfighting uniforms and swords and stuff, including Manolete's uniform that he was wearing when he died, and the head of the bull that killed him. You could still see blood on his clothes. When I saw the flamenco about Manolete in Pittsburgh, I never imagined that I'd see his actual uniform in Madrid!

They say that bullfighters can't get dressed by themselves, that somebody has to help them because their suits weigh so much. and if a matador does a good job, he gets an ear from the bull--and if he does really well, he gets two, and if his kill was just outstanding, he also gets the bull tail. It's been about 50 years since Madrid gave someone the tail--our teacher says that the people are very demanding.

I wouldn't have liked to see a bullfight, but the museum was very interesting. The teacher knew so much and she communicated well how bullfighting is much more than killing the animals, but instead part of the culture here, almost like a religion. She says that the matadors cry when they have to kill the bull.

...

Madrid 2, Yessica 3! hehe. I finally found a place to change my traveller's checks. Finally. I had started to think that the city was hiding them all from me! (Note: Spanish doesn't really have a J sound, so my name often sounds more like Yessica)

Toni surprised me this morning, upset that I leave in two weeks. She's so sweet, she calls me "bonita" (pretty). This weekend Marisa is going to her grandson's baptism and Toni is going to stay with us. We already made plans to go to the movies on Saturday night. It was funny, when I came to lunch I spoke a lot with Marisa and Toni, making plans to go to movies with both of them, and I don't think Laura or Amber understood three words!

Well, it's sunny and hot, and I have an hour before my class, so I'm going to look for some ice cream. :)

...

My mom would like Madrid. There are Yorkies all over the place. I've also seen several Cockers, but not like Dickens.

I just met an English guy in the Retiro. I liked his accent.

There are lots of nuns in the streets! and near the Plaza Mayor there's a store with a sign "Habit"--Sam and I laughed at the idea of a store that sells nun habits (of course, that's not what the store sells, but still...it's funny!)

...

Today I've had a good day. There was a moment when I was on the metro and I realized that I feel comfortable here in Madrid, I've gotten used to living here and I'm going to be sad when I leave.

After classes today I went to buy my Lladro piece. It's called "Don Quixote Reciting." This time when the lady explained the taxes to me, I understood her perfectly--and she told me that I speak Spanish so well! hehe They're going to mail the piece directly to my house, and it will arrive at about the same time I do. And they already took off the European VAT tax and I don't have to worry about that. I love the piece--Don Quixote with his sword and his chivalry books, with Mambrino's helmet at his feet, with this perfect expression on his face...his dream, his way of seeing the world, Sam says that Don Quixote bores her because he's so silly, but there's so much more to the book than that!

I think I'm going to go out for a while and take pictures near the house.

June 13

I didn't have a good morning. I was bored in theater class, and I can't go to the zarzuela tonight with my class because the Samford teacher forgot to get me a ticket...I don't know, it bothers me to hear the Samford people complaining about having to go to places I'd love to go.

But now I feel a little better. I'm sitting in a hall of the Queen Sofia Museum. I think the works I've seen this afternoon prove my theory that modern art requires a lot of imagination to understand. With the surrealists I was really glad that there were titles to explain what iut was I was seeing.

I saw Guernica! It's huge, and I got goosebumps looking at it, so close to me. Thet put the drawings that Picasso did in preparation for Guernica in the room next to the painting, and it was really interesting to see them. In one I saw more erased lines than in the drawings I did in art class! The scared horses, the women suffering, the broken sword, next to the flower...it's a really impressive painting.

June 14

Last night Marisa and I went to see Amelie. What a nice movie; I really liked the theme of helping others. Besides, since the original movie is in French, I'm glad to have had the opportunity to see it in Spanish--I don't know how to describe it, but sometimes Spanish is prettier than English.

Tonight we're going to see a play by Garcia Lorca, Yerma. I'm happy about that.

The other day I forgot to write that I went to a supermarket. It was really similar to US supermarkets, with a really strong smell of meat. Here the milk and juice come in boxes, and the people don't worry about leaving things outside the refrigerator.

Yesterday I went to take pictures near the school. I couldn't believe it when I saw that the picture of the Puerta de Alcala had no cars in front of it. There's always so much traffic there. I also took pictures of the Columbus monument. I like how they did it; they engraved well-known sayings about the "discovery" of the Americas on the rock of the monument. I hope the words can be seen in my pictures.

Today Susan is coming! I hope to see her at school this afternoon. and Katie is coming on Sunday!

I can't believe I've been here for two weeks, or that I go home in two weeks more...

...

I saw Susan! She and her husband got here fine; they were really tired, poor things. I was so glad to see them.

Now I'm sitting in a plaza near the Tirsa de Molina metro stop, waiting for someone from my theater class to arrive. I don't like this neighborhood--lots of people have come to hang out since it's Friday night, and I don't feel totally comfortable.

I didn't like the movie that we saw in class today, The day of the Beast. It's about a priest who discovers that tonight, Christmas Eve, is the night in which the Antichrist will be born. So he decides to give himself to the devil to find out where the Antichrist will be born, so that he can go kill him. It's a really violent movie and my mom would have laughed at me watching it, covering my eyes every two seconds...

...

The group finally arrived and we went to see Yerma. I liked it a lot, although the interpretation was a little strange, with dark scenes and the actors wore masks and these horrible black wigs. But it surprised me who well they represented Lorca's symbols, especially the river. I would have liked an interpretation more true to the orginal play, but this was good too.

June 15

It'd be a lot easier to use the phones here if they didn't charge for every call and so we didn't have to use the public phones outside....but I did manage to call Susan and leave a message for her and all without a single question of "what? I didn't understand." I do speak Spanish! It's so cool!

Today I went to Segovia. The aqueduct is incredible--so tall! They showed us the large grippers, like tweezers, that they used to put the stones up in the high places. Really, the size of things around here impresses me--the aqueduct, the cathedrals, they took centuries to build! The stones in the aqueduct stay in place by themselves; there's not any cement or anything to keep them in place. and they've been that way for two thousand years. Wow, it's incredible. It's also interesting to see how the city has grown up around the aqueduct--here in Spain ancient things are so common. I'm still not used to this.

Oh! I almost forgot to write that I saw the HP campus on the way to Segovia. At first I saw a sign on a building, and then a billboard with the HP Invent logo. So that's where they do the stuff that I was reading about on the HP Espana webpage that I found last summer. Let's see, what else did we see in Segovia...we saw the church in which Isabel the Catholic Queen was crowned queen of Castile, near the Segovia cathedral. The cathedral is not as impressive as the one in Toledo...there's not as much decoration, and for example, they used wood instead of marble in the chorus. I don't remember all that they told us, but they moved the cloister stone by stone when another church burned down....or something like that...but stone by stone, can you imagine! I really enjoyed seeing all the objects from the 15th century that are still preserved in the cathedral.

Then we went to the Alcazar. It looks a lot like the Disney castles. There was a huge moat, very deep--I would have liked to see it full of water. The original alcazar burned down in the 1800s, so what we saw today was a reconstruction. The Catholic kings lived in the alcazar. Inside we saw knights in shining armor--which made me think a little differently about El Cid! Then we saw the thrones of the kings; they're not as impressive as the thrones in the Royal Palace, when the Borbons reined, but there were some stained-glass windows in the alcazar that surprised me, they were really impressive. Afterwards we saw the Hall of the Piñas and the king's bedroom. In many of the rooms there were words on the walls, sentences that saw which king ordered the construction of the room and in what year. Then we saw the hall of kings, with small statues of about 40 kings from the regions that hadn't yet joined to form Spain--the last ones are the Catholic Kings and Juana la Loca. There was also a statue of El Cid, because he was so important.

We saw the chapel of the alcazar--in it is a painting of the original alcazar, which was saved from the fire when they threw it out a window, with a few books--in that time period the building was used for military training, and the hall of kings was a library. In the chapel there's a thing like a confessional, except it's a window for the kings so they could come to mass without actually entering the chapel.

We went up the tower and saw a pretty view of Segovia and the mountain landscape. There were lots of stairs...everybody slept well on the bus ride back to Madrid!

We ate lunch and only had half an hour to explore. I returned to where the gypsies were selling mantillas and I bargained with them...I don't like to bargain! But I got my mantillas!

And I'm glad that I brought extra batteries for my camera because my charger doesn't work with my electrity voltage converter!

June 16

Again it's Sunday, and again I'm sitting on the terraza of my house. It's been 2 weeks since I got here and it seems like the last week has just flown by.

I spent today with Susan and Ron and Will. We were going to go to some museums (and I got lost on my way from my house to the museum--the street names didn't coincide with the names on my map, so I walked all the way to Serrano...it was a good thing my map had all the Corte Ingles stores, because that's how I knew where I was, and I could figure out another route to the museum. I don't know how I got there just a few minutes late, I walked a lot!) But both museums were closed for construction, so we decided to go to Alcala de Henares.

In Alcala we saw the University of Alcala de Henares, constructed in the 1400s by Cardinal Cisneros. There was a lot of rivalry between that university and the university at Salamanca--they said that there was no grass in Alcala because all the burros (i.e. ignorant donkeys) had eaten it! Later the university was to be converted in a silk mill, and they were going to cultivate silk worms there, but they never did it, if I remember correctly.

It was interesting to hear about student life there. In one plaza that we saw there were two doors: one for the students that did well on their exams, and other for those students who failed. If you did well, everybody applauded you, and there was a free bullfight. If you didn't do well, they didn't treat you so well. All the important people of the Golden Age--or at least, a lot of them--graduated from this university--Quevedo, Tirso de Molina, etc. We saw the room where they took tests--with three chairs, one of the student in the middle, another on the left for his teacher, and one on his right for a person called the devil, who asked hard questions and tried to make the student fail. Now they use that room to award the Cervantes prize on April 23, alternating between Spanish and Hispanic writers for the prize. Their names were engraved on the wall in the entrance hall and I recognized a lot of names!

Hehe, this university made me think that graduating from Carnegie Mellon was easy--I didn't have to take an oral test in front of other students who applauded if I did well and called me a burro if I didn't!

Then we saw the chapel, where the tomb of Cardinal Cisneros is. (oh, and in the building decorations there were swans, cisnes like his name.) He asked for a simple tomb and they gave him the richest tomb ever. It's made from marble with figures from the Bible, the majority of which are headless, because when Napolean invaded Spain in the 1800s, his armies cut their heads off. The tomb was also taken to another building, where the room collapsed, breaking the marble and leaving Cisnero's statue without most of the fingers.

After leaving the university Susan and Ron invited us to lunch. It was really good! I like how we eat strawberries for dessert here, with sugar or cream.

After lunch we went to the house where Cervantes was born. It seemed very similar to Lope de Vega's house, but with more decoration. The furniture didn't actually belong to Cervantes, but they are from the right time period. There was a heater in every room, which surprised me, since there were only two in Lope's house. The beds were also a little bigger than Lope's.

On the first floor there was a collection of books, with many first editions of Don Quijote, including translations. I loved seeing all of them! There was also this dresser with scenes of Don Quijote engraved on it. There were many cool illustrations of Don Quijote, including a work by Dali that I actually understood! Susan and I enjoyed that part of the house...I'm not sure if Ron and Will were that interested.

Then we went to the Palacete de Laredo, which was constructed by this guy Latedo on a whim. He wanted to have the best house in the town, so he decorated it to the nines, with ceilings like in the Bourbon palaces and the Arab palaces. Except he ran out of money after a few rooms, so he had to paint the riches in the rest of the house...he painted the decorated ceilings and the marble walls. Until 1970 his house was the first thing you'd see stepping off the train, and there were lots of gardens around it until recently. He constructed the house just to impress people, it's crazy. Today it also houses one of the only complete copies of a Bible that was written in four languages. They translated it in the university, and they were taking it in a boat to be blessed by the Pope, but the boat wrecked and only two copies remain.

I really had a good time, talking to Susan...I really do speak Spanish! Ron is so funny, he understands Spanish but he doesn't speak it much...but he sure tries! Susan and Ron are really cute together. Hehe, and then I taught Will about the metro...poor guy, all day we were talking about the metro, and we arrived at Atocha and he asked me, "so what exactly is the metro!?"

June 17

It's so hot!

Katie is here! She's in my film class. After class I went with Katie and her roommate Christina to buy some postcards, and we went to the Corte Ingles. They had my camera batteries, yay! And Katie and Christina were glad to go with someone who knew the area a little. Katie does want to go to the zarzuela with me, and we're thinking about going to Barcelona this weekend! Blair is going to be there and we could see her...we're going to see tomorrow if that's a possibility. So then we'd go to the Escorial the Saturday before I leave...I like this idea. I'd also like to go to Granada again, but I've never been to Barcelona and everybody talks about it...

and it sounds like we don't have classes on Thursday, because of the strike. I'm not complaining!

June 18

Last night at dinner we taught Marisa about "thums up," and what it means when you pass your hand over your head when you don't understand something. It was pretty funny.

This morning I went to the Zarzuela Theater to get tickets for Los gavilanes. But tomorrow there is no show, then Thursday is the strike, and we're going to Barcelona on Friday...I guess we'll have to go next week.

Something that I always forget to write: here there are beer machines next to soda machines! It's pretty funny.

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Every day I'm more bored in my theater class. Today we talked about Don Juan Tenorio, later this week it'll be Luces en bohemia and The House of Bernarda Alba. Que barbaridad.

We don't know yet if we'll have classes on Thursday. Officially the school is open, but every teacher has the right to not go. We'll see.

Today we saw the movie Todo sobre mi madre. It was interesting to see the movie again after having been in Madrid--I saw how it was made in Spain, especially because of the clothing.

Now I'm in the Retiro. I just finished my sandwich and now I'm going to find some ice cream before going to the Archeology Museum.

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Wow. The museum was incredible. Although the replica of the caves of Altamira wasn't open, I did see the Dama de Elche and a whole lot more. A very nice older man who works as a volunteer befriended me and was explaining all kinds of things to me, especially about the mythology associated with the Roman artifacts. He epxplained a lot about the Dama de Elche, too--like how they originally thought it was a guy because it has a fat neck, but after finding another whole statue that they know is a woman (a goddess) they changed their minds about the Dama de Elche. Only the bust has been preserved; it's believed that they cut off the rest of the statue in order to be able to hide it better. It represents Iberian art and it was made around 300 BC. It's really interesting. Inside it there is a place for ashes, so it's probably some kind of funeral statue, but we don't know if the statue was of a goddess or a bride.

Then I saw several Roman mosaics, with an astrology calendar. There were several Roman statues, some from this penninsula and some brought from Italy. I saw a Roman coffin and stones with ancient writings.

And coins! In a showcase they put coins from the time of the Dama de Elche, with figures engraved that were not very detailed, and made from stone. Then below they put coins from other times--made from metal, smaller, and with more detailed figures, that reminded me of the coins we use today. Interesting. It surprised me to see how quickly the coins evolved.

Mr. Goss would have liked to see the primitive weapons, daggers and knives. They made me think of our world history class.

The rooms were ordered more or less cronologically, so at one point I turned and left the post-Roman time and entered into the very Christian periods, with lots of statues of the Virgin Mary. Such a quick transition was interesting. There were several tombs and a medieval door that were kind of cool.

These things were made centuries ago--it's incredible that they were preserved so well. I asked the volunteer how they managed to move the Roman mosaics, and he explained that they cut them in pieces, moved them, and then re-assembled them. You could barely tell they had done that.

I hope I can go back to see the replica of the Altamira caves.

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This evening we went to a tapas bar with Susan and the other CMU students, and that was fun. Our plans for Barcelona are going well; Christina and I are going to a travel agency tomorrow. It sounds like Sam might want to go with us--I'm glad. Today she told me that she wants to have a party at her house next week and maybe after that we'll go to the movies to watch Almodovar's latest movie.

Ok, Katie and I agreed to meet at 10:30 to walk around a little...

June 19

Last night we went to drink a granizado (ice drink) in the Plaza Mayor. It was fun. I love speaking in Spanish! It was surprising to see the plaza so tranquil at that hour of night.

This morning Christina and I went to the travel agency. I had to ask a girl where it was in the Alonso Martinez area, and she told me that I speak really well and she wanted to know where I'm from. But at the travel agency we couldn't make any definite plans until we know whether Sam is going. So we'll have to go back tonight together.

Then I walked around with Christina. She's really nice and says I am too. Poor thing, she feels so weird in Madrid because she barely speaks Spanish...

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I don't like people on motorcycles that don't pay attention to traffic lights and crosswalks!

This afternoon I was very happy to sleep an hour siesta after going to bed late and getting up early.

We went with Sampere to the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum. It was interesting, although we had to walk really fast in order to keep up. There was a Degas painting that I really liked, and another famous Dali painting of tigeters that jump out of the mouth of a fish and kill with a shotgun that turns into a needle a girl who's naked and about to wake up. I liked the detail and the colors...Dali did a good job of capturing the dream feeling.

It's weird with the strike tomorrow. In the morning we don't have class, and I don't think we have to come tomorrow afternoon either. Katie and Sam and Christina and I want to go do something, but we're not sure what, given that everything will be closed. Maybe we can walk around Madrid and take pictures...I want one in front of the Don Quijote statue!

They sent my Lladro piece! It'll arrive in two days. :)

We have our tickets for Barcelona! We spend the afternoon in the travel agency, and we found a hotel room in Barcelona, in one of the main streets (i.e. a nice safe place). Then we had to take the metro to Mendez Alvaro to get our bus tickets...and it was so hot in the metro today! But we're going to Barcelona!

June 20

Today is the general strike. It was so weird to wake up and hear horns and traffic like usual, and not know if it was because of a demonstration or because of normal traffic! It seems like everything in the streets is normal, except for fewer buses.

Here when the people park their cars there is no space between them. They have to bump into other cars in order to leave.

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I studied this morning, and now I'm going out with Katie and Christina. and I just learned a new word: estropear means to spoil or become rotten. Marisa just said it when she served us rotten bananas, and she told us we should eat them because they were going to go bad! Laura said she was watching my face to see my reaction because she says I never react to these things, but apparently this time I did make a face...I hope Marisa didn't see it! But wow...

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So the strike wasn't such a big deal today. We couldn't change traveller's checks because stores were not open, but other stores were. There were a lot of signs on the streets about the strike--all on the ground, stepped on by I don't know how many people.

Katie and I went to the Corte Ingles to buy money belts. I also got a fan--it's so hot! I'll use it! Then maybe I'll use it for decoration in my apartment.

Then we picked up Christina, who did have class today, and we went to another Corte Ingles to go shopping. It was interesting to go Spanish clothes shopping with friends...I don't like going shopping, but it was kinda fun.

Tonight I called my parents. It was so good to talk to them! My Don Quijote arrived today, yay! I went for a little walk before going back to my house--it's so much cooler outside than in the house. I don't know how Marisa lives without air conditioning.

June 21

I feel so weird--my theater class starts in 10 minutes and I'm sitting here, in the terraza porch, writing. It's not worth it to go to class, I'd have to leave early and we have a substitute teacher who's going to teach us about 20th century Spanish history, which I already understand pretty well. But it's the first time I've skipped a class...in three years at CMU I never missed a class like this.

I just got back from changing my last traveller's checks. So now I'm ready to go to Barcelona.

A car just passed with flags waving and people yelling...probably had something to do with the strike. At first I thought the screams were dogs barking.

When I got back from changing my money I saw an accident as I left the metro. I think a van ran into the motorcycle--what I saw was the motorcycle falling and the people yelling afterwards. At least they didn't seem hurt.

Today the news that they were showing in the metro stations said that the strike was a failure. Yep. Apparently it was more successful in other countries.

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We got to Barcelona! We were on the bus for 7 hours, but oh well...at least there were several stops to get something to eat. So we arrived, and took a taxi to the hotel, and it's a cool room. We planned what we'll do tomorrow...it's going to be a busy day.

June 22

Wow I'm tired. We walked a lot. Let's see, in the morning we went to eat churros and chocolate, and it was good. In the street there weren't a lot of people, everybody was watching the World Cup soccer game. We took the metro to meet Blair--the metro here is cleaner than the one in Madrid, but you have to walk a lot in the stations and pay twice when you change lines. Blair's youth hostel is close to La Rambla, so we went along there trying to find her. We were a little late and we thought we wouldn't find her, but when we went to check e-mail to figure out the exact street, she was also there! She and her friend already had plans for today, but we'll eat dinner with them.

We walked along La Rambla, and we saw the famous Columbus statue. Everybody speaks in English here, and I don't like it that they switch to English when they see that I'm American. All the signs here are in Catalan...although I understand quite a bit, it still feels strange. I'm ready to go back to Madrid. But Barcelona is prettier in general.

We watched along the dock for a while and then we went to the Sacred Family church. It's so incredible. I'd like to see it complete--it's so different from what I've seen in Toledo and Segovia with the ancient cathedrals. This one is much more modern. Inside are some interesting columns...and the ceilings and the stained glass windows...I took lots of pictures!

Then we went to the aquarium...that was the only place that Christina really wanted to go. It was interesting, lots of fish. My dad would have loved it.

Then to the beach...we spent an hour there...it is weird to see the women in unikinis! The water was cold and I didn't swim a lot.

Now we're in the hotel showering before dinner...I put on my dress, it's more comfortable! It's so hot here, supposedly the temperatures are 20 degrees lower than in Madrid, but as far as I can tell, that's not true. At least here there is a breeze from the ocean.

We saw some handbags made from jeans today. It was funny...I don't think they'd be so popular in the US if everybody made them out of old jeans.

Tonight we hope to eat with Blair and then go to a flamenco dance. Tomorrow we're going to the Picasso Museum and to the Precolumbian museum, that'll be cool. And I'm thinking about putting on shorts for the bus, even if it does make me look like a tourist!

...

We saw Blair. She was traveling with a girl from Canada, and both are traveling from one youth hostel to the next just to see the country. Since Katie and Blair were talking, I talked to Blair's friend. She speaks English well and it was interesting to talk to her. She couldn't believe that I'm 20 and done with my degree; she's 22 and still has a year left!

Then we went to the flamenco show. It was a small place, it seemed like a family-owned business or something, kinda like the theaters I've gone to with my class. But they sang and danced really well--one song in particular reminded me of Lorca because of the manner of expression and the references to the moon. There weren't a lot of people, and I could see the dancers' feet perfectly, and they impressed me a lot with their dances. One of the ladies brought out a little baby boy, and it was fun to watch her dance with him.

I forgot to write that I tried sangria. I liked the fruit flavor at first, but I didn't like the alcohol.

La Rambla reminded me of the Retiro on Sundays. There were lots of people putting on little shows and people watching in circles around them. Also the people here get dressed up and stand like statues...but the ones we saw today didn't throw things at us, like the the one that Katie and I saw that night in the Plaza Mayor in Madrid. What a way to get attention!

June 23

We're at the bus station; our bus leaves in an hour for Madrid.

Today we ate breakfast at the hotel. I liked it a lot, fruit and bizcocho with chocolate. Marisa would have called that breakfast dessert!

Then we went to the Precolombian Museum. It's a big collection but all the artifacts fit into a few rooms. There were masks and statues of the Aztecs and Incans; I liked them a lot. There were also some fabric samples and it surprised me to see the colors that are still very vibrant. The European tapestries don't look that good after two thousand years! Some of the artifacts I saw today are from 800 BC--they're incredible.

THen we went to a textile museum next to the Precolombian museum, since we got free admission to the second museum with a ticket to the first. It was interesting to see the clothing from other centuries, and the fans and the gloves and shoes. I wonder, the women who wore corsets and all kinds of petticoats and stuff, what would they think of the beaches today? In the museum there were also old sewing machines. and the lace! I would love to learn to make it.

Entonces fuimos al museo de Picasso. Tenían obras de todos sus períodos, y fue interesante ver la trayectoria de sus obras, comenzando con cuadros muy realistas y casi impresionistas y terminando con el cubismo y obras como Guernica. En el museo tenían todas su obras de Las meninas; recuerdo que las estudiamos en la clase de Alex. ¡La infanta Margarita se veía tan distinta en los cuadros de Picasso que en la original de Velázquez! Y Picasso añadió el detalle de mostrar cómo el cuadro es un cuadro colgado en la pared, enfatizando el rol de Velázquez en la pintura.

Luego a comer y andar por la Rambla por un rato. Creo que pasamos por lo menos el mismo tiempo en las tiendas turísticas que en los museos. Pero bueno, me he divertido aquí en Barcelona, y me alegro de haber venido.

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Otra vez en Madrid. Hace calor. Llegué a tiempo para ir a La casa de Internet y mandarles un mensaje a mis papitos—se me olvidó que en la noche los trenes del metro no vienen con tanta frecuencia. Y luego a mi casa—me dio gusto ver a Marisa y a Laura y a Amber. Pobrecita de Laura, robaron el pasaporte de su hermana y su esposo este fin de semana. Como les costó mucho trabajo explicar la situación a la policía, como ellas no hablan bien el español y nadie entendía el inglés, ofrecí ir mañana con ellos a la embajada, pero allá seguramente hablan inglés, así que no hay necesidad.

Y ahora a dormir porque sólo me queda una semana en España y hay muchísimas cosas que quiero hacer.

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Se me olvidó escribir del paisaje montañoso de Cataluña, que me gustó mucho. Había tantas colinas, hasta en la playa. En el camino vi muchos edificios viejos—parecían castillos—uno que seguramente era pueblo medieval porque había como un castillo en la parte más alta de la colina, con el pueblo a su alrededor, y todo encerrado por unas paredes. Increíble.

Otra cosa del hotel: ¡había aire acondicionado!

June 24

Mi último lunes en Madrid. :(

En la clase de teatro hoy hablamos de Valle-Inclán. Creo que Ana estaba sorprendida que yo había leído Luces de bohemia. Hehe, y en la clase de cine Vicki me dijo que soy una sinvergüenza por haber faltado a la clase del viernes, y cuando yo le pregunté cuál es la tarea de las sinvergüenzas, me dijo que tenía que escribir por los menos 7 o 8 folios explicando la relación entre Guernica de Picasso y el nacimiento de la lechuga. Hehe

En la tarde dormí una siesta, y fui a comprar las entradas para Los gavilanes, y justo cuando llegué cerraron la taquilla. Así que regreso mañana. Sam va a venir con nosotras a la zarzuela, y eso me da gusto.

Hoy después de clases Sam me acompañó a la Plaza de España y me sacó unas fotos enfrente de la estatua de Don Quijote. Las voy a poner en los marcos para mis papás y para mis abuelitos. Luego caminamos cerca del Palacio Real, y comimos un helado italiano, que me gustó mucho. Vimos la puesta del sol detrás del Palacio y la catedral de la Almudena. Luego vimos una tienda turística y ella compró regalos para su familia. Nos divertimos—¡a ninguna de las dos nos gusta ir de compras!

No puedo creer que me vaya tan pronto. Marisa me dijo hoy que es un placer vivir conmigo porque soy ordenada y madura y como de casi todo. Hehe, ¡si ella viera el cuarto desordenado de Jess!

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Otra cosa que sigo olvidando de escribir: veo cómo Buero Vallejo podía escribir de la importancia del individuo—es que aquí en Madrid ¡hay tanta gente! Pero cada persona tiene su propia historia—como escribió Buero, ¿quién es éste?

June 25

Oops. Esta mañana abrí la nevera descalza. Espero que Marisa no me haya visto...después de esa lección de cómo nunca se debe hacerlo porque el frigorífico puede dar una descarga eléctrica.

En mi casa no hay necesidad de mostrar lo que he cosido. Dejo mi proyecto de punto de cruz en elescritorio y en la noche Marisa y Toni me dicen que mi muñequito es precioso. ¡Marisa no podía creer que yo había cosido en el autobús rumbo a Barcelona!

Algo cómico que no escribí este fin semana: las botellas de agua dicen que no se debe beber el agua si ha estado en el sol, en el suelo, ¡y que no se debe rellenar la botella! Katie y yo nos reímos mucho de eso.

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Acabo de recibir unos e-mails de mis papitos diciéndome que no pueden esperar hasta el domingo...¡tengo tantas ganas de verlos!

Resulta que hoy vamos a una obra de teatro en Madrid, así que han cambiado mis planes para hoy. Pero la obra de teatro ganó el premio Lope de Vega, y debe ser muy bueno. :)

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Pues sí que era muy bueno el teatro. El águila y la niebla—con una trama bastante diferente. Un niño se crió en el manicomio porque tenía momentos en los cuales hablaba como si estuviera loco. Luego, a como los treinta y pico años, una doctora se da cuenta que tiene adentro el espíritu de Napoleón, y por eso sabe hablar francés y conoce toda la historia de la revolución francesa y el período después. La doctora lo pone en como un hipnosis y recuerda su vida, comenzando con el presente, y yendo hacia atrás, hacia el momento de nacer, y luego antes que eso, cuando era Napoleón y dirigía las tropas en batalla. Termina el primer acto con la comprobación científica que eso es lo que le pasa al “loco,” a quien dan de alta del hospital. En el segundo acto trata de encontrar trabajo, pero siempre tiene ideas para mejorar la impresa y el director no los acepta. Hay mucho comentario social de cómo se tiene que formar parte de un sindicato y tener un carnet para trabajar. Raúl no pertenecía a ningún partido político, y habla de la libertad e igualdad, y cómo la única forma de libertad es el anarquismo. Termina la obra cuando la doctora, su amiga, lo manda a la isla en dónde murió Napoleón, para suicidarse. El águila no podía volar en la niebla.

Bueno, que más hice hoy...después de la película Sam y yo fuimos al Retiro para comer, y hablamos de nuestros animalitos. ¡En su casa hay más animalitos de lo que teníamos nosotros! Yo extraño a mis pajaritos y a las gatitas y sobre todo a Smokey.

Después fui a comprar las entradas para Los gavilanes. Ya quiero que sea jueves para ir a verlo. Y luego la clase y el teatro...y a la casa para comer...y luego ayudé a Laura y a Amber con su tarea porque tuvieron que faltar a sus clases de hoy para ayudar a la hermana de Laura. Y ahora a dormir...hago mis deberes en la mañana...

June 26

Aparentemente hubo una tormenta anoche, con muchos truenos y relámpagos y todo...y yo ni me desperté. Marisa no podía creer que me quedé dormida.

Es extraño, me voy acostumbrando a ponerme una falda todos los días. A ver si considero a los pantalones cortos indecentes cuando regrese a EEUU... ¡Creo que una falda será demasiado elegante para Lockheed Martin!

Hoy vamos a la Reina Sofía con Sampere.

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Me gustó ver otra vez Guernica. Pero en realidad no explicaron mucho del arte moderno. Yo pensé que explicarían más, como lo hicieron con El Prado. Pero bueno, los cuadros del Prado son más fáciles de explicar porque todos tienen fondo histórico o religioso.

Después de comer volví al Prado. ¡Es un museo enorme! Vi todas las obras que vimos con la escuela, y otras de Goya y de Velázquez, pero me cansé de caminar por las otras salas, de los pintores menos conocidos, porque todas las obras parecían iguales—el Cristo en la cruz, María con Jesús, hombres en caballo, y escenas de guerra. Hoy vi La maja vestida y La maja desnuda, que habían estado en una exposición hace 3 semanas. Me gusta la obra de Goya—sus pinturas negras de Saturno devorando a su hijo y los brujos que se reúnen con el diablo, sus pinturas reales (¡y no tan atractivas!), sobre todo La familia de Carlos IV, y sus obras sobre la invasión de Napoleón el 2 y 3 de mayo. Son impactantes.

Luego vine caminando hasta aquí, el Retiro. Me parece increíble que casi he estado aquí un mes—me siento muy cómoda yendo de un lugar a otro en Madrid. Pero me estoy hartando de cómo todo el mundo en la escuela habla en inglés. Eso lo pueden hacer perfectamente en EEUU.

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Después de clase fuimos Sam y Jo y Katie y Christina al apartamento de Sam para cenar. Fue divertido, ¡y con un pastel de helado para el postre! También estaba allí Emily, la compañera de casa de Sam, que es de Inglaterra. Me gustó oírla a ella y a Jo hablar. Nos divertimos riéndonos de las costumbres aquí, sobre todo de nuestras señoras. Como la señora de Katie y Christina que no quiere agua en el suelo del baño pero no tiene cortina para la ducha, o la mía con su idea de descargas eléctricas del refrigerador...

Después fuimos a ver Hable con ellas, la película más reciente de Almodóvar. Me gustó muchísimo. Sí que es raro...con escenas sexuales muy explícitas...pero la actuación, la música, los temas son todos muy interesantes. Me alegro de haber tenido la oportunidad de ver la película aquí en España en la pantalla grande.

Sólo me quedan 3 días en España. :(

June 27

Marisa me dejó una nota diciéndome que sacar la ropa para lavar...y escribió mi nombre “Yesi”

Acabo de hacer el examen final para mi clase de teatro. Fue facilísimo. Pero es extraño, después de hacer estudiado en España estoy segurísima que quiero continuar con mis estudios en UCF. :)

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Esta noche fuimos a la zarzuela. Me encantó. Fue como hacer visto algo como Aída o Les Mis, pero en español. No entendí todas las canciones, pero el diálogo fue fácil de seguir, y la historia me recordó un poco de El sí de las niñas. Fue chistoso, pregunté a la mujer detrás de mí qué es un gavilán exactamente, porque se me olvidó buscarlo en mi diccionario antes de ir, y como es el título de la obra, es bueno saberlo... Pero a las demás no les gustó mucho. No entiendo cómo es que lo único que quieren hacer es ir a la piscina y a la playa y dormir tarde e ir de compras cuando todo eso se puede hacer en EEUU. Me alegro haber estado aquí sola dos semanas porque hice lo que quería hacer y fui explorando.

June 28

Hoy me trajo Marisa mi maleta desde el sótano donde lo tenía guardado. Pronto me voy. :(

Dos expresiones que se me olvida escribir: un hombre muy guapo es un queso, y algo que tiene mucha sal es un flamenco. Hehe

Hoy en la mañana Christina y yo fuimos al Museo Arqueológico otra vez. En las salas que estaban cerradas cuando fui antes había una exposición de cosas griegas, con unas jarras muy interesantes. También fuimos a la reproducción de las cuevas de Altamira, que me gustó muchísimo. Me gustaría que mi papá las pudiera ver, eso y los sarcófagos de Egipto. Pero saqué fotos. :)

En la clase de teatro no hicimos nada, jugamos a adivinar películas. Sacamos una foto de toda la clase.

Luego mi última clase de cultura...hoy hablamos de los toros. Fue muy interesante, aunque ya sabía mucho después de ir al Museo Taurino.

Ahora voy al Corte Inglés por unos libros...es muy barato comprarlos aquí y seguramente los voy a usar.

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En mi clase de cine tampoco hicimos nada, jugamos Trivial Persuit en español. Fue divertido. Luego Vicki y Sam y yo nos sacamos fotos—en la mía Vicki tiene la lengua afuera. Ella nos dio un beso a Sam y a mí para despedirse.

Me compré mis libros—dos de Lorca que no he leído, Fuente ovejuna de Lope de Vega, La vida es sueño de Calderón de la Barca, y El conde Lucanor de Don Manuel. Marisa nunca había oído del Conde Lucanor, eso me sorprendió.

Se me olvidó escribir anoche que en la zarzuela hubo una línea muy cómica—cuando el alcalde dice que no irá a la boda, dice que “habrá huelga general de invitados.”

Otra vez la bocina...es que no hay espacio suficiente para aparar los coches, así que estacionan enfrente de otros coches que ya no pueden salir, y la gente toca la bocina hasta que alguien venga a mover el coche. Qué barbaridad.

Después de clase hoy fuimos al teleférico. Fue interesante, con una vista panorámica de Madrid muy bonita.

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Qué barbaridad, si esto se “salir de noche” en Madrid me alegro haberme quedado con Marisa en tantas noches. Fuimos a la chocolatería de San Ginés, la que me habían dicho que era tan bueno, pero no venden allí más que churros y chocolate, y las demás no querían eso. Así que fuimos a la Plaza Mayor. Yo probé horchata, una cosa que había querido hacer, y Sam y Katie y Christina tomaron sangría. Luego ellas fueron por helados, pero a mí me dolía un poco el estómago, así que preferí venir a la casa. Había muchísima gente en Sol y un tren vino y simplemente no paró, eso fue raro. Después oí mi nombre y allí estaban Laura y Amber. Otro tren llegó, pero ya venía lleno de gente y no cabía nadie, fue horrible. Así que decidimos tomar un taxi. Al salir del metro vimos a alguien vomitando en el pasillo...ick. Pero cogimos el taxi y llegamos bien y ahora me voy a dormir.

June 29

Es la última vez que me siento en esta terraza para escribir. Mañana temprano me voy.

Hoy fuimos al Escorial. El monasterio es muy grande y muy impresionante. Vimos los sepulcros de los reyes—una sala grande e importante para los reyes y las reinas, y otras más pequeñas para los hijos. También vimos la biblioteca, con muchos libros y mapas antiguos. Vimos la cama en dónde murió Felipe II, qué barbaridad. Y afuera hay unos jardines preciosos con una vista muy bonita de las montañas.

En la tarde fuimos al Valle de los Caídos. La cruz grande es impresionante, y la basílica interesante. Katie y Christina caminaron tan rápido que no vieron la tumba de Franco entre el altar y el coro. Hay palabras en las paredes: “para los que cayeron para Dios y para España.” El lugar entero me dio escalofrío—tal vez porque la historia de la guerra civil es más reciente, y la he estudiado tanto. Afuera hay un paisaje muy bonito de las montañas que me recordó de Colorado.

Entramos en una tienda de dulces y fue cómico, al dueño le gustó muchísimo que habláramos en español. Me recordó a Marisa, diciéndome que la mayoría de las norteamericanas no tienen educación, pero yo sí. Compré unos dulces como Gummy Bears—tienen un sabor un poco diferente pero me gustan.

Cuando llegué a casa Marisa me dio chocolate para el camino (¡y si lo supiera Amber, hehe, tendría celos!) Me dijo que les dijera a mis papás que aunque ella no los conoce, tiene una idea de cómo son por tener una hija como yo. Me va a regalar uno de sus proyectos de encaje que he admirado tanto. Y yo ya le dije que le voy a mandar uno de mis bordados de “Precious Moments”—quiero hacer un imán para ella y otro para Toni.

¡Y mañana veré a mis papás!

Otra cosa que se me ha olvidado escribir: se siente padrísimo cuando te preguntan cosas en la calle, como de direcciones y cosas así, y ¡puedes contestar!

Mi última noche en Madrid. Marisa y yo miramos Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios, que fue muy cómico. Ella me dio su encaje y me dijo que necesito bordarlo con un gato. Creo que ya sé cual voy a hacer. Ella es tan linda. Ya llamó para el taxi, que viene a recogerme aquí mañana a las 8:30.

Todo esto me parece un sueño. Siento que llegué ayer y que he estado aquí por mucho tiempo. Me ha gustado mucho Madrid y los otros lugares que he conocido. Más que nada, me he probado a mi misma que sí domino el español. Y se siente padrísimo. :)